The Rival Queen's Long Game
by The last Shadow Master
Summary: This is just an idea, spinning in my head. What if there was another Vampire Queen outside of Morganville seeking to find a cure for the Bishop Plague for her own followers? This tense situation naturally gets Claire and the Glass House Gang involved, in the oncoming scheming of the local Morganville Vampires and the Rival Queen's agents seeking to obtain the cure to the plague.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the Morganville Vampires Rachel Caine does. I do own Katya and her followers. This is my first Fan-fic story feel free to review, and give advice, along with some constructive criticism.)**

_**Backstory…**_

_**Grand Duchess Katya is the oldest vampire currently residing in Russia. She has been around since 865 AD. Her own father, Oleg was murdered by Bishop during his rise to power in the vampire aristocracy.**_

_**Katya promptly went into hiding, and began forming her own army of followers to defeat Bishop and his bloodline. The problem came later when she discovered that she and her own bloodline was infected with a mysterious plague that made it harder to reproduce, and is sort of like human based Alzheimer's disease.**_

_**The Grand Duchess has traveled around the world forming her own network of vampires to serve her, and provide information on a cure. She even "acquired" an old soviet bunker complex in the Ural Mountains to serve as her base of operations and to conduct experiments to find the cure to the plague…**_

_RUSSIA…_

_URAL mountain range…_

_Mountain complex bunker…_

The mountain slopes were covered with a blanket of icy snow. The harsh wind howled outside as the occupants inside the mountain complex stayed warm with specialized air conditioning powered by an old soviet nuclear reactor. The heating was for the human occupants that were "kidnapped" for their specialized skills in the medical field, or other scientific fields that were deemed necessary for keeping the mountain complex operational for Katya's plans. The rest were hostages to ensure the "obedience" of the human cattle, or easily captured victims to be bled to feed the vampire occupants….

**Katya's POV:**

Thinking back on the past, the grim situation always makes me shiver internally, like a harsh winter in Siberia. The fact that my people were doomed to succumb to a mysterious plague before our chance to avenge, the slight from Bishop and his bloodline against us with the callous murder of my sire always makes me want to extend my fangs and start a killing frenzy.

It's only the centuries of patience, and bidding my time for the right opportunity that keeps my fangs sheathed from killing some hapless person in my presence.

The guards around me were stationed at their positions at the door of my office. They were dressed in their usual clothing of standard business suits, along with their usual brown and rugged trench coats. They all were wearing black aviator sunglasses, and were carrying their usual armament of Kalashnikov model forty seven, or as they affectingly referred to them as Kalash.

I sigh to myself, and think to myself, maybe turning a small unit of former Soviet Spetsnaz into vampires to be my own personal bodyguard unit was a trying idea. I mean, they have a better idea of modern weaponry, and their battle experience in Afghanistan was a good point. The added fact, that since they are so young it makes it a lot easier to use my compulsion powers, to keep them in line to my will.

The problem was that they were a lot younger than some of the more experienced vampires in my entourage. It wouldn't do for a possible usurper in my ranks to try, and eliminate me, just because my new handpicked bodyguards were turned in the early eighties as opposed to a couple hundred years back.

I make another mental note to have my second in command Boyar Alek look into any malcontents in the ranks to be "purged," quietly of course. This would ensure the fear, and keep the others in line through the effective use of fear. I mean, if I learned one thing in this long course that nothing says obey me better to the lower orders than a head on a spike. I was still toying with this idea when my Kapitan of the guard opened the door.

The two guards at the door turned and flashed fangs for a second as their eyes turned red. They stood down at the wave of my hand. The Kapitan saluted touching his temple with the fingertips of his hand in the standard salute of a military man. I nod my head formally to acknowledge his salute. He then lowers his salute and stands at attention to state, _"My liege, Lord Alek would like a moment of your time to inform you of some updates of the situation on the experiments."_

I sit at my table, impassively staring into the shaded eyes of the Kapitan and finally wave him away. He clicks his heel together and gives another salute before retreating to allow Alek into my presence.

**Alek's POV:**

The Grand Duchess, had to be notified of the news from our human doktors that had finally given a timetable for when are people would finally be nothing more than mindless beasts. The sad fact was that their constant existence forced many of them to become locked up, in the deeper recesses of the complex and a few had been "quietly" eliminated on Katya's orders to get rid of potential rivals. She had even killed her own blood sister Anya when she had finally succumbed to this unholy plague that so thoroughly infected our kind.

She would also have to be notified about some new details gathered from her spies in her rival's camp. It would seem her spy network was still effective at infiltration, and manipulation even among others of our kind. The Kapitan of the guard exited out of the metallic door. He nodded and said, _"The Grand Duchess, will see you now."_

I acknowledge him with a nod as he stands aside to keep the door open for me. The room is naturally dark as the lights were out. The only lighting was the single candle at the table. Katya was seated at her seat at the head of the table with several papers along with an ink block and quill pen dipped inside it. She was seated with her delicate hands in a knot together. Her slivery eyes were staring into mine projecting her power of dominance that made me want to kneel in front of her in submission. I fought the compulsion and bowed to my waist in front of her to break eye contact. She always gave me the impression of a spider inside a shadowy web.

Her raven black hair, and pale completion hidden in the shadowy darkness of the room. Her two guards at the door were staring at me from behind me giving me the impression of nowhere to escape. She gave me an emotionless smile and said in a commanding voice,_ "You have our permission to rise."_ I rise from my bowed position and look away from her eyes and focus on her illuminated noise and mouth to keep from being engulfed into her power. I personally, believe that any human that had to get near our liege would find themselves swallowed by her all-consuming aura of dominance, or even becoming her next meal. Its times like this, I am glad that I am a vampire…

I finally state in a formal voice, _"My liege, my I have permission to speak?"_ Katya's shadowy face nods once to grant me permission. In so doing however, we made eye contact for a split second before cutting it off once her head went back to position. I look at her illuminated face for a second and then state my report, _"My liege, I bring ill tidings indeed the human doktors inform me that the illness will finally destroy us in less than ten years' time. Dr. Vadimovich, your lead human medical blood expert has officially stated this to me."_

Katya merely sits in her chair holding the same solid position. She finally said in a formal tone, _"It seems our good doctor has been busy finding out our life expediency and not enough about the cure we need. I expect results, not excuses and this is just an attempt to save herself; by giving me more prophecies of doom…"_

Alek cleared his throat a habit from his human days and said, _"I also bring news from our spies in the States. It would seem that our dear spy sent to watch Amelie, Bishop's blood daughter has finally found a way to communicate to our outside agents from her petty kingdom, in Texas."_

Katya finally broke from her solid look and a new expression of interest crossed her face. She smiles even more intently and said, _"Oh, and what does our good spy have to say about our rivals?"_

Alek finally smiled at this new development and replied, _"They have a cure…"_


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: I felt some filler was necessary to explain the spy inside Morganville. I am also taking some liberties in the details of an earlier setting in Morganville. I am using my own knowledge of history along with some personal research/analyst of the history of Morganville.**

**I am trying to keep the story as similar to the story as possible. I would also like to add when mentioning present era Morganville it will be based after the events in Ghost Town. I was also like to thank Amy-vampire and xRagdoll-Kittenx for their reviews. I hope that this chapter will be up to your expectations.)**

**Morganville, Texas…**

**Present day…**

**The Church…**

The white modest sized chapel stood out in this area of town. The rest of the area appeared to be an empty street of deserted shops that were boarded up and rundown looking. A black sedan with heavily tinted windows was pulling up to the church and entered into the empty parking lot. It was during the afternoon as the mid-day sun was overhead in the traditional humid Texas climate that made most people sweat profusely at this time. The black sedan's driver side door opened and a dark clothed, figure exited out of the vehicle.

The man's pale complexion made him seem like a person that had spent most of his life inside a dark building, as opposed to being out in the sun in his whole life. His green eyes flashed dangerously looking around to make sure no one else was around. His black hair was slicked back, along with his well-groomed moustache that did not go past his lower lip. He walked gracefully toward the entrance of the chapel and merely pushed the double doors open.

The inside of the church was modest to say the least the far edge was a podium and several pews for the church goers of the town, and the local vampires that attend their respective services. The inside lacked any insignias, or holy symbols of any kind. The local priest of the area, Father Joe was at the podium in his traditional vestments. He was alone inside the church and the figure walked up toward the nearby confessional and waited for his confession.

Father Joe had a surprised look on his face, and walked over to the confession booth and entered his side of it. The wooden frame separated the priest with the vampire that had entered a few minutes before.

The vampire started the confession first with the traditional,_ "Forgive, me father for I have sinned…"_

Father Joe merely nodded inwardly to himself and said, _"It's an odd sight to see you here Joey."_

The vampire smiled without showing fangs and replied, _"I apologize to the Holy Father, and Mother Mary for not appearing at mass. I have had a long confliction with my faith."_

Father Joe smiled serenely and asked, _"Very well, when was you're last confession?"_

The vampire known as Joey merely shrugged and replied in a grim voice, _"Not since, 1859."_

Father Joe didn't look surprised and said, _"Unburden your soul my son."_

Joey merely raised his right hand and strokes his moustache and said, _"Do you really want the whole story? We could be here awhile."_

Father Joe merely shrugged and replied, _"It's for your salvation…"_

Joey takes an unneeded breath, lets out a long sigh and states, _"Okay here we go… It all started in Sicily, during the year of 1860…."_

**Sicily….**

**Year: 1860.**

**Giuseppe's POV:**

It was summer on that fateful night. The night air was warm and dry as we left the city of Palermo, and headed out into the countryside to begin another act of banditry to provide food, and money for our families. The five of us were carrying old breach rifles, stolen from the Spanish invaders that kept trying to keep our people under submission. The local chieftain of our residential area had ordered the young men of his area to begin "hunting" as he called it. The truth was that he merely wanted us to rob rich nobles, and merchants that occasionally came through the main road to reach the port.

We were sweating as we carried through the countryside avoiding the main road to not be seen by our potential prey. I was eighteen at the time long considered a man already at that time. I was accompanied by three others Vito, his cousin Nino, and a youngster by the name of Vincenzo. The three of us were used to this by now hunting during the summer months along the road. We would usually go outlaw during the winter and hide from the local authorities to sneak back into Palermo with our ill-gotten gains to pay our tithe to our chieftain and keep the rest for ourselves to feed our families. I had already been married and had a wife and newborn infant at home. I often had to leave them to provide for them, during this harsh time in our country's history. We were poor and downtrodden by the rich and powerful that lorded over us. We needed to find a way to survive, and banditry was that way to do it.

We had been moving since sunset and had waited at our "hunting grounds" till about midnight. It was around this time a black carriage pulled by two black stallions was spotted by Nino rounding around the hill towards our ambush site. We thought we had made a haul. It turned out to be a biggest mistake of our soon to be short lives. The coach merely stopped as we waylaid them. Vito had fired his rifle into the air to get the coachman to stop. The carriage stopped and a pale woman skinned woman exited out of the carriage effortlessly and gracefully, without the need of a footman to help her down.

She was dressed in an elegant dress of that time. It was silky blue, her slivery eyes seemed to glow in the night. Her raven hair was covered in a wig that was common certain high ranking women of that time. She looked upon us impassively like a predatory fox among chickens in a coop. She then looked upon us in the eye as she walked calmly and casually toward us. Her eyes were possessed by some power of the devil. I swear she made young Vincenzo balked like a hapless faun and started to wet his breaches. You could smell the urine as he started shaking. I took aim with my rifle and fired at her using all my will to try and stop this demon from bewitching us.

The bullet pierced her dress and punctured through her chest. The sight of dark red staining her silky dress was burned into my mind for all eternity. She didn't fall or even yelp in pain. She smiled as her eyes changed color to a crimson red that flashed in the night. She raised a delicate hand and said in a sort of broken Sicilian that was mixed with another language that sounded harsh and brutal to the ear, _"Alek, Anya, save this one and another one for me, Kill the rest…"_

The image in my mind was a scene out of your modern day monster movies. The coachman with his short brown beard and another younger noble looking woman with brunette hair had just stepped out of the coach. They're eyes were crimson like the woman before me. The three of them, extended long fangs like a viper and came upon us with a speed of what seemed like lightning. I was quickly dispatched and taken down by the woman that I had just shot with my rifle.

She had disarmed me with a speed and strength. I had never seen before and threw my rifle out onto the road. She pinned me down, an embarrassing feat for a young Sicilian man and raised my neck to her pale lips. She bit down and proceeded to drink my blood, I started to pass out from the soothing feeling of the blood loss, and the shock of being bitten. I watched my friends Nino, and Vito being drained dry, as little Vincenzo was huddled in fear his rifle long forgotten at his feet. This was my last image before my sight turned black.

I would awake later in the stable of a nearby villa. It was dark and damp with hay strung up everywhere. The smell of horse dung and urine was strong. It seemed the demons had tied my hands to hooks with rope. The lanterns were low and shadows were everywhere. The worst part was that it dark and the horses were making constant noises. This only increased my own fears looking around being unable to move. I then heard the woman again in that harsh accented voice, _"It seems the dog, is awake."_

I try to look at her and retort back at the insult. The problem was that she was behind me. She then said, _"I find you interesting, I think, I will keep you…"_

It was at this point the horsewhip sliced into my back. I screamed curses in Sicilian as she proceeded to tell me, _"A dog most learn who its master is. I will teach you to not bite me again."_ The whip came back after this statement. The whipping continued for another couple of minutes till. I pass out from the stinging pain. I would later think that she may have gentled me on her strikes. I mean yes, they hurt but, thinking back. It seemed bearable considering the massive amount of strength and speed. I saw her use in the past…

I would wake again, to the sight of her face to face to me. She stared into my awakening eyes as the terror filled me again. She smiled almost imperiously at me as her black hair was no longerunder the white wig.

She had been wearing, I thought of Francesca my wife, and wondered what she would have said if she could see me now with this strange foreign woman, that seemed to be some sort of monster from the pits of hell. She a manicured finger to my lips and said in her strange accent, _"Don't speak, you don't need to say anything to one of betters till spoken too."_

The fear of her and that strange all dominating aura coming from her made me want to do as she said. It was like some instinct was being forced upon me to submit to her on eye contact. She then took note of my silence and nodded her approval of me. She then said, _"I have plans for you my dear pet. I think we may have a use for a man of your questionable skills."_

I look down from her face and stare at her bare feet trying to avoid eye contact. She places her hand at my chin and lifts my head effortlessly to her face and said, _"I am pleased to see you are learning your place. I believe it's time to move along with our plans."_ She then bites down on my neck again; it doesn't hurt as bad this time around as she seems to do the bleeding more gently. I start to realize that she isn't stopping like last time. She holds the bite and, I realize that, I am going to die…

She promptly stops biting her lips a crimson mess along with her extended fangs. She retracts her fangs and promptly grabs a dagger that was sheathed at her waist and cuts me down. I fall to the hay heavy floor with a thud. I can feel my heart slowing down from lack of blood pumping from my veins and arteries. She lowers down to my face planted level and swiftly turns me onto my back. She cuts her wrist with the dagger.

The monster woman then lowers her bleeding wrist into my gasping mouth as her blood enters my mouth, and goes down my throat…

**(A/N : Giuseppe's confession will be continued into the next update. Feel free to review…)**


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